The Coma Lilies

The Coma Lilies originated in 2001 with Michael Spector and Christopher Votek writing music in a class in high school. Michael played guitar and Chris played bass but they needed more members. After a couple of months of doting, courting and wooing, Michael solidified the illustrious Gabriel Katz on drums and the indispensable Hunter Ellis on another guitar. Hunter recommended a keyboard player who he had been friends with for much of his life, the notorious Asher Katz, who was a perfect fit. They produced 2 albums with this group. The first one, Laughing Gas Opera was recorded in Michael's basement during 2002 and 2003. After winning their local high school’s Battle of the Bands, they went on to take first place in The Great American Music Hall’s Bay Area Battle of the Bands in May of 2003. Then in 2004 they made their self titled album which was recorded by Rager Tschann at Grizzly Studios. Chris Votek soon decided to leave the group and was replaced by Brian Kincaid as their new bass player extraordinaire. Between then and now they have played numerous shows on numerous stages, often drawing upwards of 300 people at a local venue. In April of 2004 they orchestrated a tour to Southern California, only to return a month later for some repeat performances. Then, in September of 2004, they ventured north to Portland, OR. Most recently the band toured to Los Angeles for a couple weeks in February of 2005. The Coma Lilies come from a wide variety of musical backgrounds. Hunter Ellis began playing the violin at eight, guitar at twelve, and has played in many orchestras and ensembles since the fifth grade. He and Asher first started playing music together in seventh grade in another instrumental band that never had a name. Asher Katz has played piano since the age of 7. He is trained in classical and jazz piano, is an award-winning photographer, and an aspiring pyrotechnician. Gabe Katz started playing drums at age three. Now 20, he is mainly self-taught and can also play nearly every instrument set before him. He and Brian started playing music together in sixth grade in a band called The Mopsters. Michael Spector began playing guitar and composing music on his computer around the age of eleven. He met Gabe and Brian on a bench in Sebastopol when he was 12. Michael and Gabe’s first musical project together was a blues cover band that included Vince Welnik from The Tubes and the later Grateful Dead. Michael has no formal training. Brian Kincaid began playing the bass when he was thirteen at the behest of Gabe. He has taken improvisational jazz classes and has been involved in several musical projects, including a stint as bassist for the now-defunct hip-hop/funk band Derivative. Michael now lives in Los Angeles and the rest of the band can be found in Portland, OR Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.